Closer

In the wake of WWE's Over the Limit pay-per-view, a new Intercontinental champion has been crowned, four other champions continue to hold onto their titles and John Laurinaitis remains employed. Sunday night's show delivered an evening of quality entertainment and good in-ring performances. On a non-major PPV event, WWE delivered a product that surpassed the expectations of many. Here's a match-by-match look at the show: Battle Royale This last-minute addition to the card was a means of crowning a No. 1 contender for one of the midcard titles.

In an early season of surprises, no one has been a more pleasant revelation or a bigger key to the Orioles' success than Jason Hammel. The big right-hander allowed two runs or fewer in his first seven starts. He didn't lose a game until April 30. Not bad for a guy that entered the season with a career 34-45 record and a 4.99 ERA. So there definitely was some concern when earlier this month Hammel's start was pushed back several days because he was having soreness in his right knee.

I hope everyone has taken a few moments to collect themselves after that spectacular finale. Midway through, I was a bit worried as the episode was beginning to seem more like a series finale than a season finale. However, the last 15 minutes provided everything a good finale should: suspense, murder, a love triangle (quadrangle!), a drug overdose, break-ups (bonus points for calling off an engagement), a conniving friend, heart break, a parent finding their child unconscious, unplanned pregnancy, a declaration of “never speak to me again” followed by a quick hang up, an engagement, a serious accident (plane instead of car, way to go big!

Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts knew the significance of Wednesday's date. It marked the one-year anniversary of Roberts' last game, when his headfirst slide at Fenway Park triggered a second wave of concussion symptoms May 16, 2011. Roberts said Wednesday that he has thought about the date - and about being out of the game for a full year - but that it helps that he feels closer than ever to a return. Roberts, who averaged 152 games a year from 2004 through 2009, has played in just 98 games since the beginning of the 2010 season.

If all goes as planned, sometime this morning a spacecraft will blast off from its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and ride a fiery plume of contrails upward through the pre-dawn darkness to begin a two-week journey to the International Space Station and back. But the flight won't be just another NASA resupply mission. Instead, the Falcon 9 rocket and its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - SpaceX for short - will be the first commercially owned and operated vehicle ever to rendezvous with the station's orbiting astronauts.

Garrett Atkins Age: 30 Height/weight: 6 feet 3, 215 pounds Position: Third base/first base Major league service: Parts of seven big league seasons 2009 stats: .226 average, 9 homers and 48 RBIs Notable: At UCLA, he was both a teammate and roommate of future Philadelphia Phillies star Chase Utley. The O's hope: He can rediscover his power stroke and become the type of hitter he was during the 2006-08 seasons, in which he averaged 25 homers and 110 RBIs.

Those who missed the acclaimed retrospective of Chuck Close's images of the human face when it was at New York's Museum of Modern Art earlier this year needn't despair. There's another chance, closer to home. "Chuck Close" opened last week at Washington's Hirshhorn Museum. Close has been painting the human face for the last 30 years, and about 85 of his works are on view. Some are black and white, some highly colored; some are eight feet tall; some are created by using his own fingerprints.

If anybody ever wrote a Broadway musical about big-league managers, the title would be a natural: "Get Me To The Closer On Time."The way baseball is played today, every team and manager is dependent on one pitcher who can get three outs and preserve a lead. As our good friend, the late Charley Eckman, used to say, "It's a very simple game."Or is it?Sometimes the formula used to reach the desired game situation can get more than a little complicated. The maneuvering often is hard to explain.

It is said that Baltimore is one of the best baseball towns in America. Unless you're a closer.Around here, closers aren't much different than potholes. They're there to be cursed. And replaced every few years.Gregg Olson was one of the best in the business until his elbow injury in 1993, recording 160 saves before his 26th birthday, but the fans at Camden Yards treated him like he was Bob Irsay's lawyer or something. They all but booed him out of town.Lee Smith? The fans didn't get on him, but only because he happened not to be the dreaded Olson.

IF POLITICAL borders don't stop criminals, they should not impede law enforcement efforts, either. That's why it's important for Baltimore to quickly conclude an agreement that will allow the state police to conduct operations involving juvenile justice matters, traffic enforcement, fugitive apprehension and auto theft within city limits. No one should be under the impression that state troopers will suddenly flood city neighborhoods once such a pact is signed. That's not going to happen.

Orioles closer Jim Johnson, who hasn't pitched since April 22 and spent four days in the hospital last week with food poisoning, said he threw a second bullpen session Sunday and is ready to get back into a game. “It seems like it has been a long time,” Johnson said. “But I feel fine. I feel like I am back to where I need to be.” Johnson said he threw a bullpen session Sunday - his second since returning to the team on Friday - and he felt good enough to tell manager Buck Showalter that he was ready to pitch.

After four nights at Saint Agnes Hospital, Orioles reliever Jim Johnson was finally released Friday morning after a severe case of food poisoning. Johnson, who has converted 15 straight save opportunities dating to last season, acknowledged the experience was frustrating and frightening. "A little of both, depending on the time," Johnson said. "It was pretty bad. " Doctors conducted various tests to rule out specific illnesses, and eventually, food poisoning - including when and where - was pinpointed.

Orioles closer Jim Johnson remained hospitalized Wednesday as doctors tried to determine what is causing flu symptoms and an infection that has dogged him for more than a week. "They want to identify it, and [with] bacteria, you're talking about some things you've got to be careful with," manager Buck Showalter said. "But he's in great hands … and at some point, he'll rejoin us and then we'll start talking about baseball. Right now, he's about getting the body healthy.

By now, everybody has gotten a good look at the Ravens' schedule, but below, Ill try to break it down a little further. Prime-time players: Remember the complaints that the NFL tries to stick it to the Ravens by forcing them to go on the road for nationally-televised games? Perhaps, those have been put to rest for a while. The Ravens have four games over the first 18 days of the season and three of them are at home in prime time. That includes the season opener on Sept. 10 against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Ravens' first Monday Night Football home game since December 2007.

Washington Nationals closer Drew Storen will visit renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews today for a second opinion on his right elbow, manager Davey Johnson said. Storen will almost certainly not need Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery, a typical fear when players visit Andrews. But depending on the results of Andrews' examination, Storen could miss at least half the season because of a "loose body" in his elbow and the surgery that would be required to remove it. Storen, 24, felt tenderness in his elbow Sunday while throwing a simulated game, particularly when he threw fastballs.

Orioles right-hander Kevin Gregg is not in denial. He acknowledges that it will be up to him to re-establish his late-inning credentials now that manager Buck Showalter has made it clear Jim Johnson is the full-time closer. "Ideally, my aspirations are to close," Gregg said Monday, "but I'm not blind to the situation I have in front of me here. " That situation still isn't 100 percent clear. Is he a setup man who will close on the days Johnson is not available?

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Where is the closer?It was Topic A for the Orioles yesterday, but that shows you how quiet things are here in Camp Content, where salaries are high, jobs are secure and any important question already is answered.Where is the closer? Who cares? It wouldn't matter if Randy Myers missed spring training, rode a team of sled dogs from Washington state to Baltimore and showed up on Opening Day.OK, maybe that's a little strong. It wouldn't hurt for Myers, the Orioles' new closer, to deign to show up one of these weeks in return for the $3.1 million he will earn this year.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- When the Orioles were trying to sign Lee Smith, they didn't tell him about the two-mile run at the first spring workout."That Oatesy, he knows how much I hate to run, and the first day I'm here, he made me run around the whole city of Sarasota three times," Smith said yesterday.No, the morning after was not good to the Orioles' new closer, not at age 36, not at 6 feet 6 and 269 pounds."My arm feels great," Smith told bullpen coach Elrod Hendricks. "But the rest of my body feels like I had a stroke."

Here are some highlights from Buck Showalter's pre-game media session: Showalter announced the obvious, saying that Jim Johnson would get the call today if the Orioles had the lead in the ninth. He told Johnson via text earlier this week, after congratulating him on the birth of his son. “He texted me something about the baby and something else, and I said, 'Congratulations. And by the way, you're closing.'” Showalter said. “And he said, 'Yeah, I know.' ” Johnson was delayed in the spring because of  back issues, but Showalter said he believes Johnson has returned to form.

General Assembly negotiators broke a prolonged standoff over the state budget late Thursday as the Senate agreed to spare Marylanders making under $100,000 any income tax increase. The Senate proposal did not resolve the budget issues still facing the legislature with only four days remaining before the scheduled end of its 90-day session, but it represented visible progress for the first time since face-to-face negotiations opened Monday. House Majority Leader Kumar Barve, one of the conferees on the income tax bill, praised the Senate offer and said the House team would meet to discuss it. "It's a very good-faith offer to come to the middle," said Barve, a Montgomery County Democrat.